Construction labor crunch drives up costs and deepens America’s housing affordability crisis
As home prices climb and inventory thins, a major culprit is hiding in plain sight: the U.S. simply doesn’t have enough skilled labor force to build the homes buyers want...
By Fox News · Fox News
As home prices climb and inventory thins, a major culprit is hiding in plain sight: the U.S. simply doesn’t have enough skilled labor force to build the homes buyers want and need. Experts say this labor shortage is now constraining the entire housing pipeline. Projects are taking longer to complete, construction costs continue to rise, and first-time home buyers are being squeezed out of an already competitive market. THE PRICE OF BUILDING A HOME KEEPS CLIMBING — AND UNCERTAINTY ISN’T HELPING Every month, the construction industry is short around 350,000 workers. What's more, the National Association of Home Builders estimates the industry will need to hire nearly 723,000 workers per year just to keep pace with demand and close a nationwide housing gap of 1.5 million homes. Home Builders Institute President and CEO Ed Brady told Fox News Digital the skilled labor shortage in the U.S. is "severe" and driven largely by "an aging workforce, fewer young entrants into the trades and decades of underinvestment in vocational training." "This shortage adds nearly two extra months to building timelines, inflating costs and delaying delivery," Brady said. A joint study by the Home Builders Institute and the University of Denver found that in 2024 alone, the labor shortfall resulted in 19,000 fewer homes built and an annual economic hit of $10.8 billion from higher carrying costs and lost production. THE TOP 3 REASONS HOUSING HAS BECOME SO UNAFFORDABLE IN THE US MARKET Joseph Kane, a fellow at Brookings Metro, said the shortage of skilled workers extends far beyond home building. "Workforce development is not just a nice-to-do, but a must-do across the built environment. For housing, buildings, and other infrastructure systems (e.g. roads, water systems, etc.), it is crucial and mission-critical for employers to have a durable and dependable pipeline of talent," Kane said. "Without this pipeline, employers are competing against each other for scarce talent, projects can run…